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1891.] Document No. 30. 109
proper accommodations for the acutely sick, as well as facili-ties
for bathing, together with means of occupation and
amusement. In the county poor-houses no especial care is
given to the sick. It is sufficient excuse for the heartless '
attendants to know that their patients are under the ban of
mental disease, and that their minds are too feeble to take
cognizance of the sorrowings or note the lack of attention.
They console themselves with the comforting thought that,
being insane, the patient can never recover, and they thus
preserve a "masterly inactivity," stopping their ears and
closing their eyes to the agonies of sorrow and suffering all
about them. ' In the matter of bathing, it is a recognized
necessity that there should be an abundant supply of pure
water in every asylum where the insane are confined; yet,
as a matter of fact, this is a point in the treatment of lunatics
in county asylums which is essentially defective. As insane
people frequently suffer from ulcerations of the body and
other skin affections, cleanliness is imperatively necessary,
but, instead, the repulsiveness of the filth too often seen is
horrible to look upon. What Superintendent of Health in
this audience can say truthfully to-day that he has one single
raving lunatic in his county asylum under his charge that
is as neat and cleanly as he should be, if comfort and health
are to be promoted thereby?
5. There are no proper sleeping accommodations. Insane
people require more sleep than persons of healthy minds;
but, in our county institutions, this desideratum is incapable
of being realized, first, on account, oftentimes, of the noisy
surroundings, and secondly, because of the uncomfortable
arrangements for sleeping. The hard bare floor too often
suffices, alas! for pillowing the aching head and resting the
cramped and tortured limbs; and if there be any beds, these
are generally the homes of countless hordes of vermin, and
too vile for description.
6. There are no adequate heating facilities. But few coun-ties
have devised adequate means for distributing heat in the

1891.] Document No. 30. 109
proper accommodations for the acutely sick, as well as facili-ties
for bathing, together with means of occupation and
amusement. In the county poor-houses no especial care is
given to the sick. It is sufficient excuse for the heartless '
attendants to know that their patients are under the ban of
mental disease, and that their minds are too feeble to take
cognizance of the sorrowings or note the lack of attention.
They console themselves with the comforting thought that,
being insane, the patient can never recover, and they thus
preserve a "masterly inactivity," stopping their ears and
closing their eyes to the agonies of sorrow and suffering all
about them. ' In the matter of bathing, it is a recognized
necessity that there should be an abundant supply of pure
water in every asylum where the insane are confined; yet,
as a matter of fact, this is a point in the treatment of lunatics
in county asylums which is essentially defective. As insane
people frequently suffer from ulcerations of the body and
other skin affections, cleanliness is imperatively necessary,
but, instead, the repulsiveness of the filth too often seen is
horrible to look upon. What Superintendent of Health in
this audience can say truthfully to-day that he has one single
raving lunatic in his county asylum under his charge that
is as neat and cleanly as he should be, if comfort and health
are to be promoted thereby?
5. There are no proper sleeping accommodations. Insane
people require more sleep than persons of healthy minds;
but, in our county institutions, this desideratum is incapable
of being realized, first, on account, oftentimes, of the noisy
surroundings, and secondly, because of the uncomfortable
arrangements for sleeping. The hard bare floor too often
suffices, alas! for pillowing the aching head and resting the
cramped and tortured limbs; and if there be any beds, these
are generally the homes of countless hordes of vermin, and
too vile for description.
6. There are no adequate heating facilities. But few coun-ties
have devised adequate means for distributing heat in the